Markets tumble on broad-based selloff & foreign fund outflows

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Thursday amid broad-based selloff. Besides, unabated foreign fund outflows and weak trends in Asian and European peers also dragged benchmark indices lower.

The BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 422.59 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 77,155.79. During the day, it lost 775.65 points or 0.99 per cent to 76,802.73.

As many as 2,736 stocks declined, while 1,237 advanced and 92 remained unchanged on the BSE. The NSE Nifty slumped 168.60 points or 0.72 per cent to 23,349.90.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 5,27,767.57 crore to Rs 4,25,38,908.01 crore ($5.04 trillion).

“The domestic market faced renewed pressure due to escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and heightened nuclear concerns. Additionally, the fresh Adani case with the US DoJ added to the market’s woes. “Although there were signs of a slowdown in FII selling, it surged again, adversely affecting market sentiment, particularly financials sector. We expect an improvement in the trend when global & domestic political issues stabilise,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, State Bank of India, NTPC, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were also among the major laggards.

In contrast, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.67 per cent, and the midcap index dipped 0.37 per cent. Among sectoral indices, services slumped 4.14 per cent, utilities (3.16 per cent), commodities (1.55 per cent), oil & gas (1.45 per cent), power (1.34 per cent) and auto (0.91 per cent). On the other hand, healthcare, IT, realty and tech were the gainers.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.13 per cent to $73.71 a barrel. FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 3,411.73 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Snapping its four days of decline, the BSE benchmark Sensex had climbed 239.37 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 77,578.38 on Tuesday. The Nifty also bounced back on Tuesday after falling in the past seven trading days. It rose 64.70 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 23,518.50.